In the present tense indicative, the form of the verb coincides with the imperative of the second person singular. In past tenses indicative, the form of the verb is personal past participle. In the conditional mood, the form of the verb coincides with third person singular conditional in the present tense or the past tense. In the indirect mood, the form of the verb is the indirect form.

The third-person singular form of the negationverb, used also with impersonal verb forms (see the usage in passive below). The English translations include don’t, doesn’t, not (with auxiliary verbs and be), and no.

The negation verb has no infinitive form. It is the same with indicative, conditional and potential mood and is conjugated only in person. In the imperative mood the negation verb has the stem äl-, for the third person see älköön. An archaic optative mood has also a second-person singular form, ällös.

The negation verb is used with the connegative form of the main verb. That form is identical to the second-person singular imperative in the indicative present. The potential mood connegative ends in the marker for the mood, -ne-, and the conditional mood connegative ends in the marker for the mood, -isi-. In the indicative past, conditional past and potential past, the active past participle singular (ending -ut/-yt) is used. The connegative form of the main verb is always used without the personal suffix.

The passive is construed with ei and by dropping the two last letters (indicative -an / -än, conditional -in, potential -en) from the impersonal verb form. In the past of all the three moods, ei is used with the passive past participle singular (ending -tu / -ty):

Usage of ei in passive (i.e., in sentences where the impersonal verb form is used):

Indicative:

Hänet/Minut/Meidät nähdään. (S/he is / I am / We are seen.) → Häntä/Minua/Meitäei nähdä. (S/he is / I am / We are not seen.)

Hänet/Minut/Meidät nähtiin. (S/he was / I was / We were seen.) → Häntä/Minua/Meitä ei nähty. (S/he was / I was / We were not seen.)

Hänet/Minut/Meidät on nähty. (S/he has / I have / We have been seen.) → Häntä/Minua/Meitä ei ole nähty. (S/He has / I have / We have not been seen.)

Hänet/Minut/Meidät oli nähty. (S/he / I / We had been seen.) → Häntä/Minua/Meitä ei ollut nähty. (S/he / I / We had not been seen.)

Conditional:

Hänet/Minut/Meidät nähtäisiin. (S/he / I / We would be seen.) → Häntä/Minua/Meitä ei nähtäisi. (S/he / I / We would not be seen.)

Hänet/Minut/Meidät olisi nähty. (S/he / I / We would have been seen.) → Häntä/Minua/Meitä ei olisi nähty. (S/he / I / We would not have been seen.)

Potential:

Hänet/Minut/Meidät nähtäneen. (S/he is / I am / We are probably seen.) → Häntä/Minua/Meitä ei nähtäne. (S/he is / I am / We are probably not seen.)

Hänet/Minut/Meidät lienee nähty. (S/he has / I have / We have probably been seen.) → Häntä/Minua/Meitä ei liene nähty. (S/he has / I have / We have probably not been seen.)

English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.